The present invention relates to guiding catheter detection in fluoroscopic images, and more particularly, to guiding catheter detection in 2D fluoroscopic images for intravascular ultrasound imaging and 2D angiography co-registration.
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is an imaging technique in which an ultrasound transducer is attached to an end of a guidewire. The guidewire is first guided through a guiding catheter and from there through the blood vessels of a patient. The ultrasound transducer is used to obtain ultrasound images from within the vessels. IVUS can be used to obtain images in which an entire cross-section of the interior of the vessel can be seen in a single view. IVUS imaging can be used to determine the amount of plaque present at various points within a blood vessel. In order to determine the location of the IVUS transducer within a patient's body the IVUS images and fluoroscopic images resulting from a 2D angiography can be co-registered.